Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ The Keyblade Master's Daughter ❯ �You�re A Princess of Heart!� ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Author's Disclaimer:

Once again, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. Disney Interactive has part of one and Square Enix owns all of one and part of another. And that made no sense, but I think you get my point.

SPOILER WARNING!!! And the story will have spoilers from KH2.

Back to the fanfic!

Chapter Three: “You're A Princess of Heart!”

There is an old saying in Radiant Garden that has been around for generations that says: “Fate smiles on the brave.” Well, it was certainly smiling on Kagiana.

Sora and Heart Riku burst into the Garage at the exact same moment as Kagiana's ship lifted off.

It was too late to call her back.

Sora's temper exploded. He started yelling at very top of his lungs.

“GET ME A SHIP NOW!” Sora screamed until his face was red. “NOW!”

Jatsuku feared the wrath of the enraged Keyblade Master, so he tried to flee. Unfortunately for him, Sora caught him. As he was too angry to realize it had been Jatsuku that had helped her, Sora instead yelled at him, “YOU! GET MY SHIP READY! NOW!”

“Yes, sir!”

As he ran off to find a ship, Akaitou turned to Mukohime and Kaorin and said, “Let's go. Sora's gone mad. We'd better go before...”

He trailed off as Sora walked over to them. They bowed, saying, “Sir Nomura.”

Sora's brown hair was disheveled and his dark blue eyes gleamed angrily. He was so angry that his voice was shaking. “You...you'd better tell me the truth! Did you know my daughter was leaving?! ANSWER ME!”

They bowed again, saying in unison, “No, Mister Nomura. We knew nothing.”

“Then why were you here?!”

They were struck with fear as he said that. They hadn't thought of that! But unlike Akaitou and Kaorin, Mukohime was a habitual liar. “We thought it was you.”

Sora turned to her.

“We thought you had been called,” she said. “For, you know...a Sealing.”

A Sealing was the locking of a world's Keyhole.

Sora stared at Mukohime for a few seconds, while she (somehow) managed to stare back.

“Alright,” he said, pacified. “But if I find out you're lying...by God, you'll regret it.”

He ran back over to where Heart Riku was standing.

“Let's go,” Mukohime said, and the three of them ran off.

“Did you know about this?” he said to Heart Riku.

“Not until tonight.”

He turned to the other workers and yelled at them, “GET ME DONALD AND GOOFY!”

Red XIII had walked in, interested by the disturbance.

“What about you, Red XIII?” Heart Riku asked.

“What about what?” he said.

“Did you know if Kagiana was leaving?”

“Is that what this is about?”

“The hell it is!” Sora said. “Answer me!”

He smirked. “Maybe I did, or maybe I did not.”

That was certainly the wrong thing to say.

Sora bent down to Red XIII's height. “You'd better tell me NOW!”

“I knew nothing.”

Sora (reluctantly) stood up as Donald and Goofy walked in.

“Reportin' fer duty, Sora!” Goofy said, and saluted with his shield. Donald did the same with his staff.

“Donald, Goofy, my daughter is gone! She left!”

“WHAT?!” Donald exclaimed.

“Oh, no!” Goofy dropped his shield in shock.

Donald was rather flustered. “Great! Now what'll we do?”

“We're going after her, that's what!” Sora said. “I don't know where she went, but damn it, we'll go after her!”

“That's right!”

King Mickey, who was watching this from atop the viewing bay, slipped away, shaking his head.

“I'll come with you, Sora,” Heart Riku said. “Kagiana is just as important to me as she is to you!”

“Red XIII?” Sora shot him an inquiring look.

“She is not my responsibility, Sora. She is yours. I am not a part of this.”

“Fine! Do whatever the hell you like, I don't care!” He yelled as he turned to the ship being lowered.

“I hope that wherever you are, Kagiana, you're defying your father full-blown. It's little wonder now why you left,” Red XIII muttered indignantly and exited the Garage.

It had not taken Jatsuku long to realize how much trouble he would be in if Sora found out he helped, so as soon as he lowered the gummi ship, he ran.

Another worker took over.

“Sir! Your ship is ready, sir!”

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Heart Riku climbed in.

“Ready for launch!”

Sora grasped his Keyblade in his hand. “Kagiana...once I find you...you have no idea how much you'll be in deep shit with me!”

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Kagiana was oblivious to the fact that Sora would soon be pursuing her. Of course, she knew her father would find out she left eventually, but when and how was a different matter. Hopefully she would have found her mother's heart, or information leading to it, by the time he caught up with her.

“All my chains are broken,” she said into the silence and tranquility of outer space. “I'm free. And now, Mama, I'll find your heart. Even if Daddy does find me first, I'll still find it.”

She tossed her Keyblade (she called it her Keyblade now that she was free from her father) up into the air and caught it. “I'm just like my dad...itching for a fight.”

She stared at the VM screen, which had the distance and coordinates of Traverse Town and the speed of the ship.

“I'd better speed up a bit, just in case some Heartless ships decide to pick a fight...”

She typed in the new speed number and soon the ship was going faster than its normal speed.

She lay back in her chair. “Heh...I bet Daddy's still moping over our argument. But I told him the truth. I was angry. He should know better than to pick a fight like that...he asked for it...”

She trailed off as a memory came to her.

Damn memories...

But she was submersed in this memory and she let it take over as...

0: Kagiana as a four-year-old girl, standing outside a door. All the lights were gone, it was late at night. She could hear voices inside. They were frantic, tearful whispers from where she was. One of these voices was Sora, when he was much younger. She pushed the door open a little bit to see inside. Because it was so dark, she was almost invisible. The other voice was another man, a man that she did not know.

“Nothing can help her?”

“I'm afraid not. Her heart is gone.”

Kagiana's eyes filled with tears in the darkness of the room. “Mama...”

“There's...got to be something, right?”

“There is nothing to reverse the effects. Only her heart can reverse it.”

“No...There has to be something...” Sora put a hand on his own heart.

“It is not within yours, Sora. She would move if it was.”

“You are being complicated,” Sora whispered angrily. “Don't you have hope?”

“I am devoid of any emotion, you should know that,” the other man said.

“Tell me something,” Sora said to the man. “Why did you leave me in the first place?”

“You and I do not agree on anything. Nothing has changed. I need my freedom.”

“You definitely haven't changed. And what's this talk of `Ghosts'?”

“That, Sora, is not your concern. I am merely telling you the truth. You should know about this. Did you not sacrifice your own heart to free hers? That's why I'm here.”

“I did.”

“You are one of the few to come back afterwards.”

“Then why is she here, if her heart is lost?”

“Because she is a Princess of Heart.”

Confusion clouded Kagiana's thought. Princess of Heart?

Sora now spoke normally.

“Kairi...please, answer me...you can't be gone. You have a daughter who needs you, and a husband that loves you. Please answer me...”

The other man was silent.

“What am I going to tell Kagi?” Sora said, his voice breaking. “How can I tell her that her mother's gone?”

“You tell her. It'll be painful for you both, but...she has to know the truth, Sora. No matter how painful it is, she has to know.”

“For God's sake, she's four years old! Show some sympathy!”

“I can't.”

Kagiana was in so much anguish that she turned away from the door, crying. Someone walked up to her, but she did not notice until she saw the light.

“Kagi, why are you up so late? You should be in bed!”

It was Heart Riku. She looked up at him, even though his light was blinding.

“Here,” he said, picking her up. “Don't cry, your mother will be fine.”

She did not say anything, but thought, No, she won't. She's gone, and she won't love me anymore...don't lie to me, Riku...my mother will not come back...ever. 0:

The VM screen beeped, bringing the fifteen-year-old Kagiana back to reality.

“Damn it...”

She checked the window of the cockpit.

Outside was a world that she had never seen before. Bright lights flashed on and off, and somehow it seemed to be in an eternal night. From her vantage point it seemed to be lined with little shops. She glanced down at the VM screen and it read: TRAVERSE TOWN.

“Traverse Town!” She said. “I made it!”

The VM screen beeped again, and this time she was greeted by an automated voice. “Would you like to land here?”

“I would.”

The VM screen turned itself off and automatically descended.

Kagiana felt such incredible joy that it was amazing she could hold it in. She had escaped from her father.

I shouldn't get my hopes up, though, She thought to herself. Daddy might be coming after me...

“Then let him come!” She said. “I'll show him!”

With that thought on her heart, she stepped off of the ship and onto the soil of Traverse Town.

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Kagiana seemed to be one step ahead of her father. As she stepped onto the soil of Traverse Town for the first time, Sora was still having problems getting into space. It seemed that the ship Jatsuku chose had a faulty engine, and Sora, in his flaring temper, told Jatsuku to replace it or else he'd get the same punishment Kagiana would get. He was only able to do it so fast, though, and Sora was growing impatient and angry. When he finished he ran all the way to the top bay to start the ship.

Sora's voice blasted onto Jatsuku's VM screen.

“DAMN IT, YOU'D BETTER BE READY!”

“Yes...sir...the ship...is...ready...for...launch...” He gasped.

“THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!”

Heart Riku's voice sounded in the background. “Sora, calm down! You're going to pop a vein!”

“He's got a right to be angry!” Donald said, waving his staff around. “His daughter's run away from him when he said not to!”

“But he should still keep calm,” Goofy said.

Jatsuku caught his breath, and then pressed the button for launch. As soon as he heard the roar of the gummi ship's engines, he sat on the floor and said,

“Kagiana...when you come back, please don't kill me...”

When Jatsuku looked out the window, the ship was gone.

“This has been one hell of a night,” he said, walking down from the top bay.

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Traverse Town was a place of eternal night. All the lights on the shops and buildings were on as if they expected night to leave. When Kagiana stepped onto it, she saw she was one of the very few people outside.

“Wow,” she said. “This will be harder than I thought...”

Kagiana looked around at this new place. She felt elated over the fact that she had finally escaped her father and would be going on a journey to new worlds.

She noticed that most of the people who were outside, either standing outside for fresh air or simply to think, were about the same age as she was.

She was wondering where she would start. The place was bigger than she thought!

Well, she thought, I guess I should start asking...

She asked most of the people outside if they knew about the friendly neighborhood Gullwings, and many of the responses were no. She finally found something when she asked one of the girls outside.

“I'm afraid I don't know,” the girl said. “But you should try the shop up there.” She pointed to a building at the top of a flight of stairs. “The shopkeeper there should know something.”

Kagiana was delighted that she had finally found something. “Really? Thank you.”

“Not a problem.”

Kagiana ran up the stairs into the shop.

From the outside, the building looked very big, but inside, it was rather small and only one story; at least, that was what she thought. Inside the primary colors were a light shade of yellow and sea foam green. The shopkeeper, whose back was turned to her, was staring at the wall. His hair was blonde and was layered. He wore a black shirt and pants, and, for some strange reason, she was reminded of her father as she saw the man.

“Um...excuse me?”

He turned to her. “Yes?”

“I'm looking for the Gullwings...Yuna, Rikku, Paine?”

He lifted his eyebrows in a look of surprise. “I would know Yuna. I'm her husband.”

“Oh,” she said.

“And as to where she is, I don't know right now...she wanders around, looking for Heartless. Why do you want to see her, anyway?”

“Well, someone told me she knew a lot about...hearts, darkness...things like that.”

“Why, did you lose your home?”

“No, I lost even worse,” she said. “My mother lost her heart.”

“I'm sorry to hear that. So, rather, you seek information?”

“Yeah.”

“She has a lot of it, all right,” he said. “Well, the first place I'd check would be the hotel. She visits those who have lost their homes to the Heartless. If she's not there, then I'd also try the Waterway. She's sometimes there. And if she's not there, come back and tell me and I'll find her. Hope I helped.”

“That helps a lot,” Kagiana said. “Thank you so much.”

“Not a problem.” He was quiet then he said, “Before you leave...I just have to ask you a couple of questions.”

“Sure.”

“You look really familiar. I don't know how, but you do. You...you look like someone I knew when I was younger.”

“Well, I don't know either. Perhaps you knew my father.”

“Who's he?”

“Sora Nomura.”

The man's eyes widened. “Sora?”

“You knew him?”

“Yeah...childhood friend! Wow. And you're his daughter?”

Kagiana nodded.

“Wait, wait, wait, then let me guess...your mother is Kairi Kyouri.”

“How the hell did you know that?”

“I knew her, too! Sora always did have the hots for her...but I'm sorry to hear that she lost her heart.”

“Yeah, but I'll find it!”

“Good for you!” he said, brushing his hair out of the way. “And...Who told you about Yuna? Did Sora tell you?”

“No. Red XIII did.”

“Red XIII? I remember him. Lion mane, dog face?”

Yep.”

“Wow...I knew him too.”

“You're from Spira, aren't you?”

“Nope,” he said. “But good guess. I'm really from Destiny Islands. The Heartless took my home when I was a kid, and then I lived in Zanarkand, and then...I was in Spira, and now I'm here.”

“Oh. Interesting. Oh yeah...” Kagiana looked around unconsciously. “If you see my dad, don't tell him I was here. You see...this whole thing with me finding my mother's heart is supposed to be a secret.”

“Ah-ha,” he said. “So you're going in secret. Well, I wish you good luck on your journey, and I hope you find her heart.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“One last thing: if you see Red XIII again, tell him that Tidus is still in the light.”

“Tidus?”

“That would be me.”

“Wait a minute...” Kagiana thought for a moment. “HA! You're the same Tidus that was the blitzball player, right?”

“Used to be. I've retired now, since the Heartless took my world.”

“Well,” she said, “I'll be sure to tell him. And once I come back from finding my mother's heart, I'll tell Sora you said hello.”

“That'd be great,” he said.

“Thank you!” Kagiana said

“No,” Tidus said, “Thank you.”

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When Kagiana walked outside, she was greeted by a cold, harsh voice.

“I hear you're looking for the Gullwings.”

She turned to the voice.

This man was tall and lean, with a cold complexion. His brown eyes were piercing into her, yet she looked back. There was a scar across the bridge of his nose. His long brown hair reached all the way past his shoulders and down his back. Many belts circled his waist. In his hand was what looked like a sword with a hilt shaped like a gun handle and a barrel just below the hilt. He looked ready to pick a fight, so Kagiana unsheathed her Keyblade.

“What's it to you if I am?”

The man took his sword down off of his shoulder. “If you want to see them, you'll have to go through me.”

“And who the hell are you?”

“That's not important. You want to see the Gullwings, you'll fight me.”

“Listen, you,” she sneered, “I don't want to pick a fight with anyone. I'm in no mood.”

“I'm their friend. You wanna see them? You beat me.”

Kagiana brandished her Keyblade. “Alright...but you're asking for it!”

The man lunged at her as she dodged to the right and swung her Keyblade. He caught the blow and tried to counter, but she instead countered first and knocked him off-balance. Once he regained his balance, he swung the blade onto his shoulder and he opened his hand. A fireball shot out of his palm and towards her. Kagiana did a backflip onto a street-light and taunted him from above.

“Hey, you need to cool off!” she shouted back at him. “Deep Freeze!”

A blast of ice shot out of the end of her Keyblade. The Blizzard spell caught him off guard and knocked him to the ground. He quickly recovered, though, and punched her in the chest. She fell back, but still strongly held her Keyblade.

“How dare you!” She said, getting into en guarde position. “Putting your hand on an underage girl's chest! And one you don't even know, either!”

She countered back and clashed with his blade. He swung his blade in an arch. She caught the blade with hers, but as he pushed down on her Keyblade, the tip of his sword brushed her just below her right eye, drawing a drop of blood.

Enraged, she broke the counter and shoved the hilt of her Keyblade into his stomach, then brought her Keyblade down on his head. He collapsed, and his sword landed a few feet away from where he was.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Know my name and remember it well. I am Kagiana Nomura, Sora's daughter!”

The man let out a deep breath, holding his head. She didn't draw blood, but she knew he would have a pretty big welt on his head after that. “That explains why you're so good!”

“Who are you?”

“The name's...Squall Leonhart,” he gasped as he felt around the area of his scalp where Kagiana hit him. “But I'm known as Leon to those around here.”

“Well, Leon, you're not a bad fighter either. I love a good challenge. Anyway, you keep your end of the deal.”

“True...you're worthy.”

He stood up and picked up his sword. “Sorry about that cut.”

“It's shallow,” she said, wiping blood off of her face. “I can handle it.” She paused. “Your sword is awesome.”

“It's a Gunblade,” he said. “It's from my world.”

“Wow.”

Leon put the Gunblade back on his shoulder. “Are you sure you don't need a bandage for that cut?”

“I can handle it,” Kagiana said. “I've had much worse than this.”

“Alright.”

He turned. “Follow me.”

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Since getting into outer space, the ship Sora was on was (fortunately for Kagiana) going slow. The ship had two different engines going at two different speeds. This was obviously Jatsuku's mistake, but Sora was too intent on finding his daughter to notice. But there was no danger to the ship because of the two different engines. Sora sulked the whole time, either twirling his Keyblade or pounding his fist on the arm of his chair.

“Gawrsh, what d'ya think he'll do to her once he finds her?” Goofy said.

“Isn't it obvious?” Donald said, “He'll kill her!”

`No, he won't,” Heart Riku said, leaning against the wall. “He'll probably lock her up in her room or something. But no, Donald. Not even Sora could be so cold-blooded.”

“I'm not sure,” Donald said. “He's pretty mad.”

“Well, you would be too if this is what happened to you!” Heart Riku scoffed, pointing Way to the Dawn at him. “Believe me, Donald, there's a lot you don't know about Sora's current mental state.”

“Like what?” The Royal Magician folded his arms.

“I won't say. But I do know that they are terrible wounds to bear.”

“You're exaggeratin',” Goofy insisted. “Sora's never had a screw loose!”

Heart Riku said one thing, and his voice was so cold the words seemed to freeze on his lips. “Don't you say that about him. Ever.”

“What?”

“I won't say anything else.”

Heart Riku's cold response chilled Sora's friends. They had never thought of the mental damage Sora had taken in the twenty-four years he had been the Keyblade Master. But the mere thought of it silenced them as Sora twirled his Keyblade, so angrily ready to use it, and wouldn't believe something was terribly wrong. They did not even notice the drop of blood that ran down from Sora's mouth and dripped onto his glove. And Sora, in his anger, didn't notice either.

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Back at Radiant Garden, morning was now up, and tempers were already flaring.

Akaitou, Mukohime, and Kaorin all were tired of hearing the rumors spread. The entire castle knew that Kagiana had left to find her mother's heart, and that Sora had run after her to stop her. They wondered why Sora, who claimed to love Kairi, would try to stop his own daughter from finding the heart. Many knew it had something to do with Sora's “problem”, as most referred to it. Whenever they did refer to it, the trio would become angry. Something like that shouldn't matter.

Akaitou, Mukohime, and Kaorin, after seeing Kagiana leave and Sora run after her, went back and talked most of the night about it.

“Akai?” Mukohime asked.

“Hm?” Akaitou brushed a strand of red hair out of the way.

“D'ya think she's gotten far?”

“I don't know, Muko. I hope so, though.”

“But what if Sora..?”

“C'mon, Mukohime, you honestly think Kagiana would let someone like him get to her? Not a chance,” Kaorin said.

Mukohime nodded and turned to Kaorin. “Yeah, well, Sora's angry, and when he's angry, you'd better watch out!”

“His temper is not that bad,” Akaitou said. “Not as bad as some people I know.”

“Like who?”

“Like...Muko.”

“Hey!” Mukohime said. “Not cool! My temper's not that bad!”

“I'm kidding,” Akaitou said.

“You'd better be!”

Kaorin returned to the conversation.

“Anyway, you can't blame Sora for being the way he is...he's probably had it all his life but didn't even know it.”

“Very true.”

“Sora is a good person, he just overreacts,” Akaitou said, messing with the drawstring on his hood. “And he can't really be blamed for that.”

“He's been like that for a while,” Mukohime said. “Heart Riku said he always overreacted.”

“Well, true.”

“I beg to differ.”

A figure had appeared in the doorway of where they were. All three of them stood at the voice.

The man in the doorway was one they simply knew by his face. His hair was black and long, and his eyes were an unnaturally bright grey colour. His eyes were beady, like a rat's eyes. They did know he worked with Sora, as he was wearing the coat. No-one knew his name, so they called him “Shitsumei”: Name Unknown. Shitsumei and Akaitou were never on good terms, so he was the first one to react.

“What do you want?” Akaitou demanded.

“To come and set you right.”

“Screw off,” Mukohime said.

Shitsumei turned to her. “Tsk, tsk, your mouth desperately needs a cleaning, Mukohime Korikagi. But anyway...back to what I was saying. Everyone knows Sora's off his rocker. It's simply a fact.”

“He is not insane,” Kaorin said, giving him a cold stare.

“That is where you are wrong,” Shitsumei said. “Sora has been crazy since Kairi lost her heart. That's simply why he ran after his daughter to stop her. He's snapped.”

“You shut up about him!” Mukohime said. “He can't help it!”

“Open your mind. He is a whack job. He hasn't been right for years.”

“SHUT UP!” Kaorin yelled at him.

“You say one more word, Shitsumei, and I will kick your ass,” Akaitou said.

“Like you'd ever have the guts to even hit me, Akaitou Chishouki.”

“You'd be surprised. I may not have a weapon, but karma will deal with you nicely. What goes around comes around, Shitsumei. I have the power to deal with you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, when all three of us help him,” Kaorin said. The both of them stepped next to Akaitou.

“Such violent thoughts, Kaorin Raime. Such a shame.”

“Get out,” Mukohime said, “and shut up!”

“Just remember: you don't know what Sora will do to her! After this, two hearts will be missing instead of one!”

Shitsumei walked off without another word.

“What the hell is his problem?!” Mukohime said, sitting down.

“I think he's an ass,” Akaitou said.

“That,” Kaorin said, “Or he is just intolerant.”

“More than likely.”

Kaorin shook her head, so her silver locks swished back and forth. “Poor Sora...poor Kagi. They've been made fun of, beaten down, discriminated...all because of one minor thing.”

“Well, it may not be as minor as it once was,” Akaitou said. He twirled his hair around his finger.

“True. But we are their friends, and that does not matter to us.”

“Right,” Akaitou and Mukohime said.

“Let's just ignore him,” Akaitou said. “Shitsumei is an idiot. C'mon, remember what Kagi asked us to do?”

“Look after Kairi?” Mukohime said.

“Yes. I think we should see her now.”

“Yeah,” Kaorin said as she stood. The other two followed and walked out. They hated that there was such intolerance of the Nomura family. Yet, as their friends, they would defend them, no matter what.

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Sora has not spoken the whole trip. He was too furious with his daughter to even speak. How dare she leave when he told her not to! He twirled his Keyblade.

She'll regret the day she set this plan in motion, I just know it. Finding Kairi's heart will not an easy task, and I know Kagiana will soon realize that when she fights the Heartless. I just know that she will regret it.

“Sora?” Heart Riku broke Sora of his thoughts and pointed to the VM screen. “We're here.”

“We are?”

He looked at the screen and, sure enough, Traverse Town was highlighted on the screen.

“Let's descend, then,” he said.

“Where should we look first?” Goofy asked. “Traverse Town is huge!”

“And it'll be hard to find her, `cause many kids her age stay there when their homes were lost,” Donald said.

“We start at square one, where else?” Sora said impatiently. “C'mon, the sooner we go, the sooner we find her. And we need to get someone to fix that engine!”

“Right,” they said.

As Sora stepped into Traverse Town, one thought was one his mind:

I'll find her myself.

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Leon led Kagiana into a different part of Traverse Town, the Second District. The Second District was filled with even more shops than before.

“They're in the hotel,” Leon said, pointing to the building over on the left. “C'mon.”

She and he walked over to the building and entered.

“Green Room,” he said. “Go on, open the door.”

When Kagiana entered, she didn't see anything at first, until something yellow caught her eyes

“Hey Leon, who's this?”

Kagiana looked down, then back up.

There were three women in the room. One was a brunette with one green eye and one blue eye, and her outfit mainly comprised of blue and pink, and a very long rattail. Another was a blonde with stunning green eyes, and an outfit of yellow. The other was clad entirely in black, and the light (or was it the light?) made her eyes appear red.

“You have a visitor,” Leon said.

The brunette bowed. “Welcome! Who are you?”

Kagiana bowed back. “I am Kagiana Nomura, the daughter of Sora Nomura and Kairi Kyouri.”

“Sora? Sora Nomura, the Keyblade Master, is your father?”

“Yes.”

“It is an honor to meet you, then. I must admit, you look like your father in many ways.”

“Thank you.”

“I am Yuna,” the brunette said.

“Rikku!” chirped the blonde.

“Paine,” said the woman in black.

Kagiana bowed, then remembered what she wanted to say. “I must ask that if my father asks for me, tell him that you all haven't seen me. I am on a secret quest. Please, I beg of you...”

“All of our conversations with individuals are private, as well as their identities. Nothing you say to us leaves this room.”

“Thank you.”

Yuna sat back down. “You have come to ask me something, I assume?”

“I have,” Kagiana said, sitting on the chair in the room. Leon moved to the back door. “It's very complicated, and painful, for me to tell. But I will bear it. As you know, my father is Sora, and you must understand how risky it is to be who he is. Heartless pursue him relentlessly, trying to get his Keyblade and the power of the light to become darkness. I was at risk even as a child. I think the only time I was ever safe...was before I was born. Then, when I was four, my mother...lost her heart.”

Yuna put a hand to her heart and gasped. “I am terribly sorry.”

“Yes, but I am determined to find it. Everyone says she'll die soon, but I can't let that happen!”

“How long has she been without her heart?”

“Eleven years.”

“Wow,” Rikku said breathlessly.

Kagiana did not like the sound of her voice as she said that. “Is there still hope?”

“Yes,” Yuna said. “Your mother can be saved.”

She was relieved at that. “But I want to know...is there a place...where pure hearts go? My father says there is no such place, but I think there is.”

“There is a place, and I have been there. I found my husband's heart there. He lost it when the Heartless destroyed our world.”

Kagiana's thoughts traced back to Tidus, and she felt sick. She mumbled, “I'm sorry.”

“He is alright now,” Yuna said. “He is back. As for your question, yes, there is such a place, but very few know of it.”

Kagiana's heart soared. She leaned forward to hear closely.

“This place,” Yuna said, “is called the Haven of Souls. When only the purest hearts are taken by Heartless, they wander, until they reach that place. It is a huge place, and it is completely white. All hearts are within one door, and that door is guarded by Nobodies.”

“Nobodies?”

“Yes. Nobodies are the bodies and souls of those whose hearts have been taken. Their hearts have been gone even longer than your mother's has. They look like Heartless, but they are also white.”

“Before they reach the Haven of Souls, where do they wander?”

Paine, who had been pretty quiet the whole conversation, responded this time. “Pure hearts cannot be in a world where the Keyhole is not Sealed. So any world that has been Sealed is safe. What you have to do is search for your mother's heart within the Keyhole. The Keyblade should help you do that.”

Kagiana groaned. “That means I'll have to look everywhere my dad has Sealed...”

“I'm afraid so. But it is worth it if you find your mother's heart.”

“That's true. But how would I know if it was her heart and not someone else's?”

“On every heart, taken or still intact, the face of the person is reflected when in the light. But be warned that all the hearts beyond that door are in a weakened state. If darkness were to taint one, all of them would fall to darkness. Be careful when you open that door that Heartless do not enter.”

“I will. What about the Nobodies?”

“The Nobodies should not be a problem. They are not affiliated with Heartless. Actually, some of them might help you. You see, the souls of Nobodies are still intact, so they might actually help you. That is what I found when I searched for my husband's heart.”

“Wow.”

It was then that Yuna noticed her cut. “You're hurt! You need to have that cleaned. I hope Squall wasn't too rough on you.”

“I did what I usually do,” Leon said. “And it's Leon.”

“It's nothing! Believe me, I've had worse. Besides, Leon was a good challenge. My old challenger was incredibly easy.”

“Sora must have been a good teacher for you to be so strong,” Yuna said.

“Yeah, well...I am his daughter, after all.”

“That is true. Heal.”

A thin clear layer covered the cut.

“There,” She said. “That way it won't get infected.”

“Thanks. And there's one last thing,” she said as her thoughts traced back to her memory. “What's a Princess of Heart? My dad mentioned it once before, but I don't know what it is.”

“Hmmm...A Princess of Heart is someone who is supposed to have an extremely pure heart, so pure that darkness cannot taint them. When brought together, the hearts unlock the ultimate Keyhole, where all darkness and Heartless can come free.”

“Oh. I was wondering because my mother is supposed to be one of them.”

“Ah, that's right...Kairi Kyouri is your mother, one of the Princesses...oh my, then it is crucial that you find her heart. If they gather all the hearts from the Princesses, they can unlock the darkness. You must find her heart quickly before it falls into the hands of the Heartless.”

“I will. I promised her I would. Anyway, I think that's all I needed to know...”

She trailed off as she heard a voice outside.

“What?” Leon said.

“Oh, shit!” she said. “That voice...that's...that's my dad's voice!”

And sure enough, it was. Although he didn't know, Sora was only a few feet from his daughter.

”Shit! Shit! Shit!” Kagiana cursed. “I have to get away!”

“That back door's open,” Leon said, pointing to the door beside the bed. “That'll lead you to the alleyway. To your left is a shortcut into the First District. He shouldn't find you there.”

“Thanks!” She said. “A thousand thanks to you, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, and you too, Leon!”

“It's nothing,” Yuna said. “Good luck, Kagiana!”

She nodded and pulled open the door and leaped over the balcony onto the ground.

I can't believe him! Kagiana thought as she raced down the alleyway. Coming after me! Who the hell told him?! It couldn't have been Akaitou, Mukohime, or Kaorin, they promised they wouldn't tell, and Red...Red promised too. I didn't tell Heart Riku and...

Then she realized. Heart Riku...he must have seen me when I left! That two-timing shithead!

Kagiana reached a column of boxes and leaped over them into the First District.

“I don't believe this!” She said. “Heart Riku betrayed me!”

She ran into the First District, ran down the stairs, and ran to a door to the left of the entrance. She looked behind her, and opened the door to the Third District.

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Sora walked through the hallway of the hotel, searching for Kagiana.

“Where the hell is she?” he said. “I thought I heard her!”

“Ya might've been imagining things,” Goofy said. “Maybe `cause she's gone you hear her voice.”

Sora sighed. “Guess so. C'mon, the Red Room has a shortcut to the alleyway. My gut says she's there.”

“How'd ya know that?” Donald asked.

“It's a father's instinct,” he said.

“Yeah, always follow your gut feeling,” Heart Riku said, brandishing Way to the Dawn. “C'mon.”

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Kagiana ran into Third District. She stopped to catch her breath, and unsheathed her Keyblade. The Third District consisted of two floors. Two staircases led up to the top floor. A mysterious door with a flame ember on it was in the very back of the bottom floor.

“I think I lost them...”

But as she bent over to catch her breath, she noticed something moving. She looked up and pools of black and purple formed on the ground. Black creatures rose from out of the ground, and some simply appeared in midair, then to the ground. The ones that rose from the ground were completely jet-black except for a pair of bilious yellow eyes. The others had silver helmets on, with their faces almost completely masked. Their claws were blood-red in colour. Their outfit was a navy blue one, with a black heart crossed with a blood-red X within the heart...

“Heartless!” she said.

She gripped her Keyblade and charged into the crowd of Heartless.

She hacked and slashed through the Heartless with the Keyblade, and they fought back just as valiantly against her. As she swung her Keyblade left and right, the Heartless simply reemerged. Her father's words rang in her ears as she fought them: They are crafty beasts and if you're not careful they'll take your heart too!

“Damn it,” she said. “There's so many!”

She raised her Keyblade in the air and yelled, “Thunder!”

A storm of lightning bolts slammed down on the Heartless, causing some of them to explode. It was only some, but not enough to give Kagiana the upper hand.

“Take that!”

She slammed through the black horde, then swiped left and right through the black figures.

A stray jet-black Heartless leaped at her and tore a gash on her left cheek. Infuriated, she aimed her Keyblade at it and yelled, “Fire!”

She blew apart that Heartless with a Fire spell. Seeing that the Heartless planned to surround her, she leaped onto a street-light.

“Take THIS!”

She threw her Keyblade as hard as she could. It twirled through the air, and ricocheted off of the walls, tearing through the Heartless. When he returned to her hand, she leaped off of the light and onto the ground, screaming, “AHHH! FEAR ME, AND PREPARE TO DIE!”

She ripped through the remaining Heartless. When they were gone, her cheek was bleeding profusely, as well as some other cuts.

“The hell,” she said. “Daddy was right...”

She wiped blood off of her cheek. “Now, to get out of here...”

But as she started running, she felt a draft blow against the nape of her neck.

SLAM!

She turned as a pair of violet-colored armored feet fell to the ground. Then a violet torso, then a violet pair of arms. Then, finally, the silver and violet head. The Heartless insignia gleamed brightly on the torso, and the fingers of the arms flexed themselves as though ready to crush her in them.

“Oh, double shit,” She said as she stared up at it. Kagiana had seen this Heartless only in one of the journals Sora had from with quests. The Guard Armor.

She tried to run, but one of the Guard Armor's feet planted itself firmly in the doorway. She screeched to a halt.

“And, of course, triple shit,” she cursed again. “Guess I don't have a choice...”

She yelled up to the giant suit of armor. “Hey, you! You walking tin can! Come and get me!”

One of Guard Armor's fists slammed into the ground, but she dodged in the nick of time.

Kagiana thought quickly as she dodged and countered the Guard Armor's hands and feet. The head and torso seem to be working the limbs. So if I can hit the head and the torso, then I can stop the limbs...

She leaped up and slashed as best as she could. Suddenly, one of the arms caught her and sent her flying into the wall.

Her entire body ached as she stood back up. Okay...maybe not that. I guess I'll have to hit the limbs first...

She stabbed and sliced at one of the legs, dodging when it came down. One of the legs exploded when she hit it, and she was knocked over onto her back.

“One down...three to go...” she gasped.

The Guard Armor's remaining foot came down and nearly crushed her, but she rolled over to avoid it. She was finding it difficult to attack, but when she tried to heal, she would have to dodge one of its limbs, breaking her concentration. Despite her fatigue, she cut through its remaining leg and that exploded as well.

She leaped onto the street-light.

“God, this is hard...” she said. “Heal!”

But as she tried to heal, it knocked over the street-light, and as she fell, her Keyblade was thrown out of her hand and landed a few feet away.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” she swore.

As she ran to get her Keyblade, the Guard Armor tried to crush her with its arms. She was almost there when it caught her under its steel hand.

Kagiana was being crushed against the ground, trying to gasp for air. She tried to grope for her Keyblade, but she was too far.

C'mon, come to me, come to me...I have to beat this thing, c'mon!

And for a thing, the Keyblade flew into her hand.

She smashed the hand with the hilt. As the huge hand lifted off of her, she stood and yelled, “FIRE!”

A fireball shot at the fist, which caused the descending hand to stop. She then slashed at its fist, and the Guard Armor tried to catch her again. She jumped back as the hand exploded. One more limb.

“Deep Freeze!”

The Blizzard spell shot at the Guard Armor's hand.

“Thunder!”

The other fist finally exploded.

“Now,” Kagiana said, “For the torso!”

Now defenseless, it tried to crush her by slamming into the ground at various places. She ran up the flight of stairs to the top, and climbed on the railing.

“Prepare to die, you damn piece of metal crap!”

She leaped with all her might from the railing and landed on its head. She hacked and ripped through its head while it spun around, trying to throw her off.

“Stop!” She cried as the head and torso froze. She tore through its head. When it started moving, she leaped off of it and aimed at its head.

“You're finished! FIRE!”

At the same time the Fire spell hit the head, she leaped and smacked the torso with all her might.

The head and torso exploded simultaneously. She ran from it as shrapnel rained down and the useless head of the Guard Armor smashed into the ground.

“Damn,” she gasped. “That...that was hard...”

She raised the Keyblade. “Heal.”

Her small wounds healed. She extended her arm and it seared with pain.

“Must've...really hurt it...”

Something unnaturally shiny caught her eye among the shrapnel. She found a strange charm, with a long piece of fabric. It was a bangle.

“A souvenir for my very first Heartless fight,” she said. “Wait `till he sees this...”

She put it in her pocket.

“I bet Daddy's in the First District. I'll go to the Second District, they've already searched there...”

She ran back up the flight of stairs and opened the door to the Second District.

Kagiana ran through the Second District, holding her injured arm.

“Can't let him find me...”

She ran until she reached a fountain in the front. She hadn't noticed this when Leon took her to see Yuna. The mural painted on the stone slab on the fountain was a floral pattern that strangely reminded her of Yuna's outfit. In the middle of the mural was, oddly, a Keyhole.

A Keyhole...Yuna told me that I could find Mama's heart in the Keyholes of Sealed worlds...

She stared at it, walking slowly towards the mural. Her Keyblade seemed to react to it.

Suddenly, and without warning, the Keyhole exploded with light. She stared at it still and did not shield her eyes, even thought he light was shining directly into her eyes. The light did not seem to blind her at all. Her eyes were glazed over; it was like she was under a trance or even hypnosis. She felt something in her heart that she could not understand.

“Mama...”

The Keyhole seemed to react to her voice. Realizing that this could be potentially good, Kagiana said her mother's name. “Kairi Kyouri...”

The Keyhole glowed brighter, then quickly faded. Nothing happened.

Her heart must not be here...

“I'll find it,” she said. “I promise, Mama.”

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“The hell?”

Sora looked at the shrapnel and the remains of the Guard Armor in the Third District.

“This was the Guard Armor,” Sora said. “Someone...must've beaten the tar out of it...”

“But who?” Heart Riku asked.

“D'ya think it was Kagiana?” Goofy inquired.

“I don't think she's that strong...” Sora said. “C'mon. Let's go back. She's probably gone somewhere else now...”

“Yeah...but we'll find her!” Donald said.

“I hope so...” Heart Riku said.

“No,” Sora said, “We will find her. Not hope, will.”

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Kagiana walked into the First District, holding her injured arm. She sat down on the ground, unable to go on.

These injuries are bad...my Cure spells aren't powerful enough to heal this...

But all she needed to do was get to her gummi ship and go to another world to heal. That way, she would still be away from her father, but still on her journey.

I'd better get back on the ship...

But as she stood up, she heard a voice.

“Did we search everywhere?”

Kagiana's heart froze. Her father's voice.

“Yeah, we searched all of them twice...she's not here...”

She ran and hid behind the wall near the staircase leading to the shop, listening intently. The group was on the other side of the wall, to her left.

“Where next?” Donald said, twirling his staff.

“Good question,” Heart Riku said.

“Hmm... dunno…”

“Well, where would she be most likely to go to?” Goofy asked.

“I don't know, we'll just…have to look in all of them.”

Their backs were turned to her, so she swiftly ran into the alleyway near the shop.

“I can't believe this...” Kagiana said. “He followed me, and Heart Riku betrayed me...”

She gripped her Keyblade. If he even thinks of dragging me back home, I swear I'll give him one good reason not to...and that should be sufficient.

“Wait!” Donald said. “That reminds me! We didn't search the Second District well enough!”

“He's right,” Goofy said. “We didn't get the chance to because we went straight into the hotel.”

“You're right,” Sora said. “C'mon.”

Sora, Heart Riku, Donald, and Goofy walked back up the stairs.

Something in her mind yelled Now!

As soon as the group was about to walk to the entrance to the Second District, Kagiana bolted towards Traverse Town's world door.

Sora only had to see a blur of blue armor before he turned.

Sora saw her. His temper exploded right on the spot.

”HEY!” He yelled after her. “You get back here this damn instant, Kagiana Nomura!”

Sora leaped over the stairs as he followed her.

I'm getting closer, I open the door and he won't find me, I'll be gone to the next world...

And I'll find her heart soon enough.

She ran as fast as would take her...

Her hand was inches from the door...

She knew her father was gaining, but she didn't care...

A hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around so violently she nearly fell over.

“YOU!” Sora roared as loud as possible. His face was blood-red, and his teeth were bared in almost a canine way. He had an iron grip on her shoulder, which she struggled to break free. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO AFTER HER HEART!”

Kagiana was ready with a powerful mind and quick tongue.

“You can't tell me what to do!”

“I CAN TELL YOU WHATEVER THE HELL I LIKE!”

“You don't care! You don't give a shit about Mama! You won't do anything for her! Well, I will! I'll find her heart by myself, I don't need you!”

“YOU DISOBEYED ME! I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO FIND HER HEART! AND WHAT DO YOU DO!? SNEAK OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND COME HERE!”

“Only because Mama will DIE! DON'T YOU GET IT?! MAMA WILL DIE IF SHE DOESN'T HAVE HER HEART!”

“SHE WILL NOT DIE! DON'T YOU BELIEVE WHAT THEY SAY! SHE WON'T DIE!”

“YES SHE WILL! MAMA WILL DIE IF HER HEART ISN'T FOUND! AND IF YOU WON'T GET OFF YOUR LAZY ASS AND FIND IT, I WILL!”

“HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME!” Sora screamed. “YOU INSULT ME WHEN I AM THE ONLY PARENT YOU HAVE! I'M THE ONLY PARENT YOU'VE HAD FOR ELEVEN YEARS, AND I SHOULD THINK YOU WOULD SHOW ME SOME RESPECT!”

“LIKE YOU DESERVE RESPECT!”

”I AM YOUR FATHER! I KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU, BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO YOUNG TO—DON'T YOU POINT THAT AT ME!”

Kagiana pointed her Keyblade directly at Sora's heart.

“I'll do it,” She said. “I'll do it, don't think I won't.”

Donald and Goofy, from their vantage point near the shop, ran to help Sora, but Heart Riku held them back.

“No,” he said. “They have to work this out by themselves.”

“But they'll kill each other!” Donald said.

“The both of them are furious, Riku!”

“I know. But it's the only way.”

Donald and Goofy backed off.

Sora's voice grew louder despite his daughter was pointing her Keyblade at his heart. “WHAT, YOU'LL KILL YOUR OWN FATHER? YOU'LL KILL THE MAN THAT CARED FOR YOU FOR ELEVEN YEARS?!”

”I CARED FOR MYSELF! I HAD TO RAISE MYSELF ON LIES, FALSE HOPES, AND BROKEN DREAMS! IS THAT THE LIFE YOU WANTED FOR YOUR DAUGHTER?! NO! BUT YOU, YOU WON'T DO ANYTHING FOR MAMA SO I WOULDN'T LIVE ON A BROKEN DREAM THAT SHE'LL COME BACK! I'M MAKING THIS HAPPEN BECAUSE I CAN'T STAND ANOTHER DAY WITHOUT HER! WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU LET ME?!”

“YOU'RE TOO YOUNG! YOU ARE TOO YOUNG TO UNDERTAKE SUCH A JOURNEY! THE HEARTLESS ARE NOT THE NORMAL OPPONENTS YOU'VE FOUGHT!”

“LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME, DADDY! LOOK AT THE INJURIES AND WOUNDS I HAVE SUSTAINED! I HAVE FOUGHT HEARTLESS! LOOK!” She pulled out the bangle from the Guard Armor. “THIS CAME FROM THE GUARD ARMOR THAT I DEFEATED! I AM POWERFUL, DAMN IT! I AM NOT USELESS!”

“THAT WASN'T YOU! THERE IS NO WAY THAT WAS YOU!”

“IT WAS, DADDY! IT WAS ME!”

“I KNOW YOU, KAGIANA KAIRI! I'M YOUR FATHER AND I KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU!”

“THEN FUCK YOU!”

Sora's eyes widened as tears started. He started to break down, just like he did when she screamed that she hated him.

“THAT'S RIGHT! FUCK YOU, DADDY! YOU NEVER CARED FOR ME ANYWAY! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I WAS SUFFERING? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE HATE AND PAIN CONSUMED ME?! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I CRIED FOR MAMA WHEN I WAS FOUR, BECAUSE I THOUGHT SHE WOULDN'T LOVE ME ANYMORE?! YOU WEREN'T THERE! I NEEDED YOU, AND YOU WEREN'T THERE! SO FUCK YOU, DADDY, AND I HATE YOUR FUCKING GUTS!”

Kagiana's throat hurt so much after that it throbbed. Sora was standing in front of her, tears flowing freely from his eyes. The tears made her even angrier because her father was showing weakness.

“Is that what you think?” Sora said, his voice now decimated to a whisper. “You think I don't care for you or your mother? Why do you think I came after you, Kagiana? I was scared for you. You are all I have left.”

”ALL THAT YOU HAVE?! I AM NOT EVERYTHING! WHAT ABOUT MAMA, HUH? WHAT ABOUT HER?! DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT TAKE A VOW TO LOVE HER NO MATTER WHAT? OR WAS THAT JUST A LIE?!”

”Kagi, I...”

“DON'T YOU `KAGI' ME! ISN'T THAT TRUE!?”

“Yes, it was.”

“IF YOU LOVED HER SO MUCH, THEN WHY DID YOU FIND HER HEART WHEN SHE LOST IT?! WAS SHE THAT UNIMPORTANT?!”

“YOUR MOTHER WAS EVERYTHING TO ME!” Sora regained his voice. “SHE WAS EVERYTHING! I LOVED HER MORE THAN ANYTHING!”

“THAT'S A LIE! IF YOU LOVED HER YOU WOULD HAVE FOUND HER HEART! YOU TOOK A VOW, RIGHT?! A VOW TO SAY THAT NO MATTER WHAT, YOU WOULD LOVE HER?! OR DID YOU STOP LOVING HER AFTER SHE LOST HER HEART?!”

“I LOVE HER MORE NOW! EVEN THOUGH SHE LOST HER HEART, I LOVE HER STILL!”

“YOU LOVE HER MORE NOW THAT SHE'S WITHOUT HER HEART?!”

“NO, I LOVE HER THE EXACT SAME AS I DID WHEN I FELL IN LOVE!”

“THEN WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?!”

“I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!”

Kagiana then added the burner. “REALLY? THEN, IS MAMA YOUR WIFE, OR IS SHE YOUR SEX TOY?!”

Tears once again flowed from Sora's deep blue eyes.

“YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT! YOU NEVER GAVE A DAMN ABOUT HER BECAUSE SHE COULDN'T GIVE YOU WHAT YOU REALLY WANTED, HUH?”

”That's not true,” Sora said. “THAT'S NOT TRUE! I LOVE YOUR MOTHER SO MUCH THAT I WISH IT WAS MY HEART THAT WAS TAKEN, NOT HERS! EVERY DAY IS IN PAIN, BECAUSE I THINK OF THE FACT THAT SHE IS BEYOND MY GRASP, THAT MY VOICE CAN'T REACH HER!”

“YOUR VOICE CAN REACH HER! SHE CAN HEAR YOU! I CAN FEEL IT WITHIN MY OWN HEART! SHE CAN HEAR YOU! BUT YOU WON'T LISTEN! YOU WON'T LISTEN TO HER OR TO ME! YOU NEVER, EVER CARED FOR ME AFTER MAMA LOST HER HEART! YOU GAVE UP ON ME, DADDY, WHEN I NEEDED YOU THE MOST! WELL, I DON'T NEED YOU ANYMORE! I CAN FIND HER HEART BY MYSELF! YOU WEREN'T THERE ELEVEN YEARS AGO, WHEN I CRIED BECAUSE I THOUGHT MY MOTHER WOULDN'T LOVE ME, WHEN THE PAIN AND DESPAIR CONSUMED MY VERY BEING, YOU WERE NOT THERE FOR ME! YOU DON'T EVEN GIVE A SHIT ABOUT ME OR MAMA! THIS IS WHY I HATE YOU!”

Sora's voice had diminished to a whisper once again. “Kagi...you really think I don't care about you? I love you, you're my daughter. You and Kairi are my world. You're the only that keeps me going.”

“THIS WOULD HAVE REALLY HELPED ELEVEN FUCKING YEARS AGO! YOU'D BETTER GIVE ME A GOOD REASON WHY YOU GAVE UP ON ME AND MAMA! WHY DID YOU NOT FIND HER HEART? WHY DO YOU NOT WANT ME TO FIND IT? AND WHY DO YOU THINK I AM TOO YOUNG FOR EVERYTHING?!”

Sora's voice was hoarse from yelling. He looked at her despite she was holding her Keyblade still at his heart. “Kagiana...it is time that I told you the truth. You're right. You're not young anymore. You're growing into a young woman...and there is nothing in my power that can stop that. If you come with me and listen to me, I will tell you everything. But I will not speak anything here. We have already made a disturbance with our argument. Come, and I will tell you what I should have told you a very, very long time ago.”

Kagiana's face was purplish-red from screaming, and now tears flowed from her eyes. The cuts she got from fighting the Heartless and the Guard Armor still bled. She slowly but calmly lowered her Keyblade from his heart.

“It better be good,” she said.

“I promise you it will.”

“You are not allowed to withhold anything from me,” She warned, “Or I will hurt you. And I am not afraid to do it. I promise you that.”

“Agreed. I must say I've deserved it.”

Kagiana drew in her breath. “Go on. Lead me.”

Sora and Kagiana walked up the stairs.

“Kagi, you really shouldn't hold your anger in like that!” Heart Riku said. “I think there were people in worlds light years away that couldn't hear you!”

Kagiana's anger once again filled as her friend spoke to her. “You betrayed me.”

“What?”

“You ratted me out,” Kagiana said. “You saw me leave, and you had to go tattle to my father!”

“I'm glad I did!” Heart Riku said. “You could've been hurt!”

“Stay out of this, Riku,” Sora said.

“I'm the one who beat the crap out of the Guard Armor!” She said.

“You're bleeding from twenty different places! I'd say that you only got off on a fluke!”

“Riku?” Sora asked.

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

Heart Riku raised his eyebrows.

“Donald, Goofy, Riku...wait here. Kagiana and I need to talk privately. We'll be in the Second District.”

“How long will it be?”

“However long it takes,” Sora said.

“We'll be waitin' fer ya, Sora!” Goofy said.

“Thank you.” He turned to Kagiana. “Come on, Kagi.”

Sora and Kagiana walked away to the Second District, the argument still fresh, as well as the wounds from it.

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Sora and Kagiana walked to the Second District, and into the hotel. The both of them were silent as Sora opened the door.

“In,” he said, pointing within the room.

The Red Room was similar to the Green Room, but instead, everything within it was completely red or shades of it. As he closed the door behind him, he pointed his Keyblade at her. It was the gold-bladed one.

“Heal.”

Her bigger wounds and cuts healed, including the pain in her arm. As she flexed it in wonder that it no longer hurt, Sora pulled up a chair opposite her.

“Sit.”

She sat down on the bed. The bangle from the Guard Armor fell out of her pocket. She was about to put it back when Sora spoke.

“You got that from the Guard Armor, right?”

“Yeah...”

“Let me see.”

Kagiana threw it to him.

He inspected it for a while. “I have this one from when I first fought the Guard Armor too. It's called the Brave Warrior.”

He tossed it back to her.

Sora sighed. “What I will tell you will take a very long time. But I should have told you this a long time ago. I thought you were too young...but you aren't anymore. You will have your chance to speak, to yell at me, to rant, when I am done. All I ask is that you listen very carefully to me.”

“I will.”

Sora leaned on the chair. “Alright.”

He sighed and started.

“Do you know how long I've been at this?”

“No.”

“Twenty-four years. Since I was fourteen.”

“Wow.”

“For many years, I had no problem with it. I was...rather, I seemed, invincible. It was strange. Suspicious, if you will. I didn't think much about it...but then, one night, I had a burst of enlightenment. I saw why I had become so powerful.

“You know that when I was fourteen, I gave up my heart to save your mother's. I became a Heartless until your mother's voice brought me back. But when I was brought back, something happened to my heart. My Nobody was created. His name was Roxas. I did not know he existed, and he did not know either, evidently. He...went back into my body. In the meantime, when that pure part was gone, darkness fell in.”

“That's why you were so strong.”

“Exactly. Now my heart has that pure part, the light, and some darkness.”

“Some darkness?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I will get to that later. Now...that is one thing. To tell the others, I will need to start with one thing: your mother.

“Your mother and I love each other very much. I lived with her at the Destiny Islands until we were twenty, and that was when our world was destroyed again. I love her so much. But there was always something looming over us, from our love to our marriage, and even to your birth. I am speaking, of course, about the fact of what your mother and I are. I am the Keyblade Master, and your mother is a Princess of Heart. Since you were born, there was always a risk. Kairi was always well aware of that risk. I remember she told me something important when she was pregnant with you. She said to me, `Sora, promise me something. If something happens to me, if I die or lose my heart, you do not dwell on my loss or go after me. I want you to raise our daughter. God forbid, if it does happen, you'll be her only parent. Care for her. She's our greatest joy and we will guard her with our lives. Don't you worry about me, Sora Nomura. Take care of her if I go.' You ask me why I won't go for her heart? I am respecting her wishes.”

Kagiana couldn't believe that her mother had said something like that. “I...”

“Please. Wait until I have finished.”

She sighed. “Okay...”

Sora took a breath. “After a few months, you were born. You...you were, and still are, the greatest joy in our lives. That is when I temporarily retired to raise you. Then, of course, only a few years later, four years, in fact...it happened.”

Kagiana's eyes filled with tears as she tried to hold them back.

“That day...the Heartless came...I fought them all off as best I could, with my Keyblade and the Keyblade you carry now. I was well through the first wave of Heartless when Heartless Riku challenged me. What else could I do but fight him? Especially as I knew he stood between me and that bastard who created the Heartless.”

“Xehanort.”

“Yes. I saw that, even me fighting against him with two Keyblades, he was powerful, even more so than before. He caught me in a counter, and I failed to see his opening for an attack. He took advantage of it and plunged his Black Key into me. It pierced through my stomach and came out the other side.”

“Oh my God...” She said. “Daddy...”

“It was the second most excruciating thing I ever felt in my life. The first was finding out that Kairi had lost her heart to the Heartless. He pulled the Black Key out of me and I fell. I knew for sure that I was dead. But Heartless Riku, he...offered me a bargain. He said that they would not attack the castle, and leave us be, if I did not go looking for Kairi's heart. I was in too much pain to properly think straight, but I somehow managed to do so. You had been with Heart Riku that whole time. The Heartless came there for a reason, Kagi. The reason was you. If they had you, they had me in the palm of Xehanort's hand. But I did not know Kairi had lost her heart then. I unknowingly agreed, and then...I lost consciousness.”

“HOW COULD YOU?” Kagiana screamed, standing up. “HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HER?”

“Kagi, please, please...you will know everything soon. Just listen. You will have your chance to scream when I have finished.”

She calmed a bit and sat back down.

“When I woke up, I was in the hospital after the fight. The doctors had healed my wounds as best they could. They said it was a miracle I was alive. They said that if the Black Key had gone an inch to the right on its way through me, it would have hit my spine and killed me instantly. They warned me, however, about my wounds. Any stress, any at all, would bother the wound in my stomach. Since then, in times of great stress such as now, I bleed from the inside. And you can see it now.”

Sora wiped away the blood that lined his lips like a gloss.

“But that is only the beginning of my injuries. When I found out, that your mother had lost her heart, I...fell into darkness. Not darkness as in the darkness of the Heartless, but a different kind of darkness.”

“A different kind?”

“Yes. After your mother lost her heart, I...blamed myself. I went into a downward spiral. I doubted myself, my powers, and my worth as a person, as a father, as a husband. I felt like (for lack of a better word) shit, like it was all my fault that she was gone. You might remember when I stayed in my room for weeks on end, never talking to anyone. I knew there was a problem and went to get help.

“They told me I had depression.”

Kagiana went numb.

“That is the darkness that I mentioned earlier, when I talked about the pure part of my heart. The darkness is depression.”

“Daddy...why didn't you tell me?”

“Kagi...you were too young to know such things...”

“BUT IT WOULD HAVE MADE SENSE! All my life I thought you didn't want me around, weren't there for me, when the truth was that you were suffering!”

“You were four years old!”

“So?!”

“Even if I did tell you, you would not have understood!”

“Why? Why didn't you tell me? And what do you mean that the Heartless came for me? Why would they come for me?!”

“BECAUSE YOU'RE A PRINCESS OF HEART!”

Kagiana went silent. “What?!”

“You, Kagiana, are a Princess of Heart!”

“How?”

“Sit and I will tell,” Sora said.

She sat down.

“That is why the Heartless came for you. They sought your heart.”

“How? There are only seven Princesses!”

“That is where you are wrong. You see...there was a prophecy made a thousand years ago, in a language no longer spoken. It told about the Keyblade Master, the Heartless, and the Princesses of Heart. When I was fourteen, the Heartless tried it. It failed. When they figured out why it failed, they saw that they had mistranslated a word. The word actually meant `ten', but the Heartless translated it to `seven'. There are ten Princesses. There are four types of Princesses: the Keyhole Princesses, which are the seven original ones, including your mother, the Heart-Seer, the Heart-Maker, and Memory-Augur. The Heart-Seer is the only person that can see the true forms of hearts and is the only one that can insert them into bodies. The Heart-Maker makes hearts out of memories, and thus can make memories. The Memory-Augur summons memories to make the hearts with. You, Kagiana Kairi Nomura, are the Heart-Seer.”

“How do you know?”

“It said the Heart-Seer would be the daughter of the Final Princess and the Keyblade Master.”

“So...so I can see hearts?”

“Their true form, yes. And you can insert them into those that have lost their hearts.”

She thought about the Keyhole in the town, and how she looked straight into the light without being blinded.

“What do you mean by `true form'?”

“There is a certain way people see hearts. The true form is what is in it.”

“Light?” She guessed.

Sora nodded. “Yeah...how did you...?”

“I went looking in the Keyhole in the Second District,” she said. “It was giving off light.”

“You...you saw...the heart of the world?”

“I guess...”

Father and daughter sat there, not speaking, not moving, barely breathing.

Then, amidst all the information she had just been given, Kagiana exploded.

“How could you?! How could you do this? Keeping this all from me! All my pain and anger...and YOU...you...”

Sora stood up and Kagiana lunged at him, pounding at his chest. “You...you kept this all from me! Ignorance is never bliss, Daddy! It only causes more pain, more suffering, than if you had JUST TOLD ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!”

Kagiana cried and sobbed, still beating at his chest. His blood dripped from his mouth as she hit him harder and harder, and her screams became incoherent. Trying to calm her, he put his arms around her and embraced her.

“I wanted none of this for you, Kagi,” he said. “I wanted you to be happy, and yet...I've failed...”

Kagiana had stopped screaming, but her sobs were still audible and heartbreaking.

Sora lowered his mouth to her ear and said, “You can go.”

Kagiana paused from sobbing and looked up at him. “What?”

“I'll let you go. Go. Find her heart, Kagi. You were right. She will die. Go. You can do it. I believe in you.”

Sora released her from his embrace. “I love you. That is everything I needed to tell you. Be careful. Find Kairi's heart.”

Sora was about to leave when something in her heart jerked. She called, “Wait, Daddy!”

“What?”

Kagiana walked over to him and said, “Let's go together.”

Sora's eyes widened to twice their normal size. “What?”

“That's right. You and me. Father and daughter.”

“But...I thought you wanted freedom!”

“I do. But...I got to thinking, when you were talking...that I don't think Mama would want us to be at odds about this. She would want us to work together, right?”

Sora looked at her for the longest time. “You're right,” he said breathlessly. “By God, you're right, Kagi.”

She smiled. “So, are you up to it?”

“Only if you are,” Sora said, grinning.

“How should we tell Donald and Goofy?”

“We tell them!”

“Heheh...won't they be surprised!”

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“Gawrsh, what took ya so long?” Goofy said.

Sora and Kagiana walked back into the First District.

“It just took a while, that's all,” Sora said.

“Well?” Donald said. “Where are we goin'?”

“Well, we are going to split up,” Kagiana said.

“How?”

“Donald, Goofy, I want the both of you to go back to Disney Castle with the gummi ship I took here,” Sora said. “I will not need your assistance for now.”

Donald and Goofy both stared at him. Donald was the first to react. “What?”

“Well, Daddy and I are going to find Mama's heart as a team,” Kagiana said, amused by their shocked faces.

“Hey! What about me?” Heart Riku brandished Way to the Dawn.

“You're coming with us, Riku,” Sora said.

“Hey! How come he gets to go and we don't?!” Donald ranted.

“Because this is a personal mission, and Riku is also involved in this because he is Kairi's friend,” Sora said with the air of someone having to explain something more times than necessary.

Donald sulked.

“Should we go, then?”

“Where?” Heart Riku said.

“First, I want to return to Radiant Garden. Restock, get ready.”

As Sora and Kagiana walked to the gummi ship, she said, “Why didn't I think of that sooner?”

“Don't know,” Sora said, “But I'm glad you eventually did.”

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Shitsumei: Name Unknown

Yuna, Rikku, Paine: Main Characters from Final Fantasy X-2

Notes:

I don't think I was very clear in what a cuff was in Chapter 2. A cuff is a wristband with snaps. (If you shop at Hot Topic, you know what I mean.)

Language is much, I know. Gomen ne. I was in a foul mood when I wrote that part.

Kathryne DeTamble's Current Thoughts:

Not a lot of stuff changed here. There were a few plotlines I edited. The next time I update will be an “Interlude”. That should not take me too long to update... hopefully.

Well, until next time...Sayonara!